Bernard Lama: "For our generation, it was important to win that title"
With Les Parisiens picking up their 11th French league title, the capital club’s former players have been reminiscing about their own championship-winning days. A title winner with Paris Saint-Germain in 1994, Bernard Lama takes us on a trip down memory lane.
Bernard, WHAT ARE YOUR EARLIEST MEMORIES RELATED TO Paris Saint-Germain?
"I worked hard for ten years before I got to the highest level. When I was a youth player at Lille and even when I'd turned pro but wasn't playing, I would go to Paris and watch Paris Saint-Germain games at the Parc des Princes with the guys from my year group. We used to head to the Tribune Auteuil; a lot of West Indians used to go there, actually. The bottom line is that I was a huge PSG fan before I even played for them."
WHAT IS YOUR STANDOUT MOMENT AT THE Parc des Princes?
"I've got a lot of memories, but I think that the most strongest one for me is the win over Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup in 1993. The way in which it unfolded made it exceptional, and it was the first time that we'd knocked out a big European team. I don't think I slept for the next two days because of the adrenaline, and things got tough after that!"
THEN, THERE WAS THE TITLE WIN IN 1994...
"It was against Toulouse, I think. I can still see Ricardo's title-winning header. That was a huge relief. It was my first league title, and for our generation, it was important to win that title. The situation was a tricky one at the time, so it was tough to win the league back then. I can envisage Ricardo's header, which was actually one of our strengths. We scored from one of our strengths, and it was a defender who scored, too. That really did show that the whole team was committed."